Naa Sika Bags a Nomination at the Ghana Startup Awards 2021
Naa Sika receives a nomination in the Banking and Finance Startup Of The Year category at the Ghana Startup Awards 2021, recognizing our impact on financial inclusion in Ghana.
The Ghana Startup Awards is an annual award ceremony that celebrates ambitious and indigenous Ghanaian start-up businesses making an impact, contributing to economic growth, meeting social needs and putting Ghana on the global economic map. The Awards honor young, intelligent entrepreneurs & startups, who, despite all the challenges they face, have taken the risk to pursue entrepreneurship as a full-time career and are building global businesses.
Naa Sika's Nomination
Naa Sika was nominated in the Banking and Finance Startup Of The Year category and faced off with other prominent fintech companies including BezoMoney, Insurity Digital ltd, Clay Consult, iPay Solutions, MKA Partners, Payswitch, SjH Micro Credit Enterprise and Zeepay.
Being nominated alongside these established players in the financial services space was a significant recognition of Naa Sika's impact and potential, especially considering we were just two years old at the time.
CEO's Statement
Ralph Menz, team lead for Naa Sika, said, "Although we are just two years old, we are happy to see ourselves mentioned in this category of big players in the same space. This is huge as it motivates us to impact more lives in our part in helping financial inclusion and literacy."
This nomination validated our early efforts and motivated us to continue building solutions that make a real difference in people's lives.
About the Ghana Startup Awards
The Ghana Startup Awards celebrate the achievements of Ghanaian entrepreneurs and startups that are:
- ✓ Making a positive impact on society
- ✓ Contributing to economic growth
- ✓ Meeting social needs
- ✓ Putting Ghana on the global economic map
- ✓ Building scalable, global businesses
Recognition from The World Bank
At the time of this nomination, Naa Sika had recently received huge recognition from The World Bank and were preparing their solution to scale across Africa. This combination of local recognition (Ghana Startup Awards) and international recognition (World Bank) demonstrated the potential of our platform to make a meaningful impact.
Competing with Industry Leaders
Being nominated alongside companies like BezoMoney, Zeepay, and Payswitch was particularly meaningful because these are well-established players in Ghana's fintech ecosystem. The nomination showed that Naa Sika was being recognized as a serious contender in the financial services space, despite being a relatively young startup.
"Although we are just two years old, we are happy to see ourselves mentioned in this category of big players in the same space. This is huge as it motivates us to impact more lives in our part in helping financial inclusion and literacy." — Ralph Menz, CEO
The Impact of Recognition
This nomination was more than just an award—it was validation of our mission and approach. It showed that:
- Our focus on financial inclusion was being recognized
- We were making an impact in a competitive market
- Our approach to serving the informal sector was valued
- We had the potential to scale and grow
Looking Forward
The Ghana Startup Awards nomination was an important milestone in Naa Sika's journey. It motivated us to continue building innovative solutions and expanding our impact. Today, we're proud to have grown from that nomination to become a recognized leader in digital financial services for Africa's informal economy.